On October 25, 2016, the 2016 Symposium on Safety and Management for Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Sea, one of the parallel sessions of the academic annual conference of Qingdao Association for Science and Technology, was held by Shandong Institute of Navigation at the Lecture Hall in Qingdao Ocean Shipping Mariners College. This Symposium was officiated by Zhou Mingshun, Vice President of Shandong Institute of Navigation and Qingdao Ocean Shipping Mariners College. A total number of 230 representatives attended the meeting, including more than 30 captains from several member units of the Institute, staff from CCS Qingdao branch, teaching staff from different maritime institutes in Shandong, business personnel from international department of PICC Qingdao branch, as well as more than 20 OJT captains and some teachers together with student representatives from Navigation Department of Qingdao Ocean Shipping Mariners College. Liu Hongying, Vice Minister of the Institute Department of Qingdao Association for Science and Technology, also attended this Symposium and delivered a speech.
In the speech, Vice Minister Liu Hongying approvingly praised the work of the Institute, hoping that the Institute would actively mobilize and organize members and maritime scientific and technological workers to carry out activities in order to build different forms and levels of communication platforms and enhance the development of disciplines and the growth of talents.
The Symposium was honored to have Zhang Gang, Professor of Navigation Department of Qingdao Ocean Shipping Mariners College, deliver a keynote speech. Professor Zhang has engaged in the research of transport and management of dangerous goods for many years and published a number of monographs. Based on years of teaching experience, he illustrated the international and domestic laws and regulations on the transport of dangerous goods by sea with profundity and an easy-to-understand approach. He emphasized several aspects in his speech including the classification and standards of dangerous goods, the packaging and requirements of dangerous goods, the shipping procedures and domestic management requirements, the stowage and segregation of dangerous goods, the emergency measures for the accident of dangerous goods, and the requirements for safe transport of solid dangerous goods in bulk packaging, oily substances in bulk, dangerous chemicals in bulk and liquefied petroleum gas in bulk.
Nowadays, several problems, however, do exist among the relevant personnel in the maritime transport management of dangerous goods industry, even including teachers of maritime colleges and senior officers. These problems include personnel’s insufficient knowledge of the rules, incomplete body of knowledge in dangerous goods transport, outdated knowledge as well as lack of practical knowledge and capacity etc. Thus, the development of the dangerous goods transport by sea still has a long way to go. It is a challenging issue for both shipping companies and maritime colleges. Given what is mentioned above, Shandong Institute of Navigation organized this event, aiming to make a real contribution to the maritime industry through such vocational studies.
Professor Zhang’s speech was so practical and useful that all participants in this symposium were deeply inspired and educated, learning a lot of practical knowledge.
